Red Bulls’ nightmares in New England continue courtesy of late Barnes equalizer

When Joel Lindpere headed home a stoppage-time goal for the New York Red Bulls, it looked for a minute like the club's decade-long drought without a win in New England would come to an end.

Then Darrius Barnes reminded Red Bulls fans just how painful past visits to Foxborough have been for the club formerly known as the MetroStars.

Barnes headed home a Ryan Guy cross in the final seconds of second-half stoppage time to help give the Revs a 1-1 draw against the Red Bulls at Gillette Stadium on Saturday.

The Revolution looks poised for a win when Red Bulls rookie Connor Lade was sent off for a second yellow card in the 74th minute. They couldn't find a winner though and Lindpere looked ready to lead the short-handed Red Bulls to a surprise win when he headed home a loose ball in the 91st minute.

The Red Bulls couldn't hold the lead though as Barnes skied over the New York defense to beat Bill Gaudette for the first goal of his professional career.

The draw not only diminished New York's fading chances of challenging for first place in the Eastern Conference, it puts them in jeopardy of falling out of of the top three. D.C. United can catch the Red Bulls with a win against Chivas USA on Sunday, while Houston can pull to within a point of New York with a win on Sunday against Colorado.

Here are the match highlights:

What did you think of the match? Did you see a Revs equalizer coming? Think you'll ever see New York win a game in New England again?

12 Responses to Red Bulls’ nightmares in New England continue courtesy of late Barnes equalizer

I think Marquez, Tainio and Solli work best when they come off the bench, or put another way, for whatever reason, the midfield chemistry is better when Cahill, McCarty, Lindpere and Lade or LeToux start in the midfield and play a good part of the match. It’s also time for some substantive minutes for Sam to play in midfield and push LeToux up top.

Funny how the whistle never blows until the trailing team finishes that ONE last chance. I have yet to see a game where the whistle blows just as the trailing/attacking team enters the final 1/3. Always AFTER the shot (or in this case, the tying goal). I know this is nothing new and the Red Bulls didn’t get treated differently than any other team in any other game…. but the INEXACTITUDE of soccer (compared to all other major sports) can be so frustrating.

In an NBA game the refs will go to replay to put tenths of a second back on the clock. In soccer you get a referee who approximates “stoppage time” rounding up or down according to his own back of the napkin counts.

So along with goal line technology…. how about we get a stoppage time clock with a second hand?

[rant over]

p.s. to any knowledgeable RBNY fans… why hasn’t Barklage been reinserted into the starting line-up? Before he got hurt I was very impressed. He was better defensively than Lade and got forward very well. Lade’s not bad but he seems more like a midfielder than a right back. Is Barklage not 100%?

What can you say? It was a heartbreaking draw for the Red Bulls. Overall, it was a very entertaining, wide open game. Both teams were going for it until the final whistle. It’s hard to understand how RBs allowed the Revs to score but to be fair, I’m happy with the effort RB put forth, particularly after Rafa left the game and Dax went inside. I also would have liked to see Cooper up front front the onset.

I was literally JUST thinking about this issue the other day. Modern technology is starting to make it’s way more and more into the game. Why not have the ref’s watch synced to the stadium and TV clock? That way there could be no question and no unfair advantages. Would it really be that hard?

I suppose game timing/stoppage time technology will worm its way into soccer as it has with every other over analyzed, drawn out American sport. Quite frankly, it is difficult for me to watch an NFL game anymore with all the reviews and replays, blah blah. I say keep the stoppage time as it is and win the game in regulation! That being said – i am all for goal line technology:)

I was struck by the lack of Le Toux’s contribution. Kenny Cooper has earned his time and I don’t even see how it’s a choice for Backe as to who’s up top. Even since he’s been getting the shaft, he’s still the fourth leading scorer in the league. How do you justify him riding the bench?